So it’s three changes from the team that started last weekend against Derry. In come Seamus O’Shea, Diarmuid O’Connor and Conor Loftus, replacing Paddy Durcan, Stephen Coen and Andy Moran respectively.

The first one they put up had Jason Doherty in. No vaughan in it either. Strange. Hardly another tactic putting up a very diff team or maybe one from an old match. Not even the Galway one as Boyle on it.

Apologies all – I completely ballsed that up (the official team was wrong as well, which didn’t help, but I added to the confusion with further errors). All sorted now in the post – it’s three changes, with Seamus O’Shea, Diarmuid O’Connor in and Paddy Durcan, Stephen Coen and Andy Moran out. Keith on the bench.

Think Doherty deserves a start but it’s a strong bench with him, Andy and Keith. I have a feeling we may go back to the sweeper system tomorrow. Did I hear that tomorrow is clarkeys 100th game for the green and red?

Strong team, whoever starts, modern football is a game for 20 players, support, shout and roar, bring the red and green and the blue and white of Breaffy, let’s give it all we got, just like what we expect from the lads on the field, be the 16th man maigheabu

Sure you wouldn’t be normal WJ if you didn’t make an odd daft bloomer…. so now …relief ! You are normal.
K Higgins available for ye know where!!! An exciting prospect. I like what I’m thinking.
Anois Mhuigheo…….suas agus ar aghaidh libh and don’t be thinking ye have anything else to bate except what faces you tomorrow! Let’s play some football!!

Interesting points about this line-up. Same half
back line as in the Horan days. Wouldn’t mind some of the old attacking half back style, but with McLoughlin dropping back as cover when they attack. 3 forwards from 2016 U21 team that won the All Ireland final in Ennis. They knew where the net was that day. Let’s hope they make it bulge a few times again tomorrow.
Generally it’s a good mixture of youth and experience as well as bigger and smaller guys.
I hope that team starts. Several good options available on the bench as the match progressed.

Look it’s a strong team and perhaps Andys current pace would be more effective when the Clare backs are hitting orange on the GPS monitoring screen. The reality is that Mayo are a better football team than Clare, in saying that they were a better team than Derry but they failed yet again in the same vital section of the field.

Football is a simple game when it’s broken down, Mayo have the steely warriors to dampen, slow, frustrate and reduce confidence (panic) in most opposing forwards. Unfortunately these same defenders are under sustained and relentless pressure as they have to defend far too many attacks from turnovers gifted by their own forwards who either hesitate when the opportunity presents itself or over complicate the basics and loose the ball while trying to get into THEIR SCORING ZONE which is basically the keepers gate, this area is almost always saturated with frantic pawns who will snuff out any unrehearsed set play.

Mayo are a great running team and when they commit in numbers the effort and energy expended in that attack must be instantly replicated in their effort to return to an organised position to defend and stymie the opposing team, over seventy minutes this must really impact on the energy levels of the older players and impact on their skill set due to fatigue .

Last week Kerry also committed runners to offer options and support to to either present a scoring opportunity or to engage defenders to create space for others, luckily for us our forwards did the business so we could retreat in a somewhat organised formation. This breather of sorts can’t be appreciated or measured in relation to the short term recovery of oxygen levels and the readiness of the players to recommit to either defence or attack.

Mayo should win tomorrow in Ennis but this is a very very dangerous game, I was very impressed with their ability to develop opportunities out of seemingly non threatening initial attacks. This all returns to a well drilled team who have that bit of arrogance and guile, guile has often been the sustenance of unlikely victors so be careful out there,,,

I rember us having to play clare in tuam stadium in the 90’s in a league game. Think we had to win to stay in the top flight. We won on the day. Met Pat Fallon in castlebar on the journey home. He said “I’d say that wasn’t great to watch”. I said “sure Pat it could have been a brilliant game that finished 4-20 to 4-19 to them”. “We won Pat and that’s what matters”. Pat smiled “I suppose you right” he said. It’s always nice to win. To see some good football would be a big bonus but it’s always nice to win???. Good luck tomorrow Mayo ? ??.

I think its best to finish matches with Andy on the field rather than start with him. I feel that when things open up his experience and general ability will make a difference, look at Dublin, they always seem to finish with a better team that that which started.

IMO there’s still too much made of our inability to score or create scoring chances. Yes it would be nice to have another one or two ace scorers, and maybe we will with Conor Loftus, but to me, We still concede way way to much to inferior teams. And many if those are easy chances/scores. Ala the last minute goal by Derry last week. That could have ended our season! Careless and clueless our FB line can be at times.
Anyway, we should survive Clare and take out chances in the next round. But the further we go, the less we get away with a poor FB line.
Best of luck lads and UP MAYO!

In Los Angeles for a 12 30 flight
Unfortunately game will be over by the time we land in Dublin.
Hoping and praying for a win.
Have a feeling manager will pull a rabbit from the hat and I think we will win but it could be mighty tough!

Good team – only selection I would not be in favour of is Vaughan. Would much prefer to see Coen start at #7 even if he didn’t have the greatest of games the last day. Great to have the likes of Doherty, Nally, Kirby, Higgins to spring from the bench in the closing quarter. I’m just hoping this time the subs will be coming in to drive us on and not to salvage our bacon !!

I’m excited about today to see how we can improve on the last day. Good strong team named. Go at Clare hard from the start. Don’t give them a sniff. As a well known Yerra once said “Never give a sucker a chance” because underdogs only get more confident the longer they stay with you. Lets do this. Come on Mayo

A right good descriptive piece Gamechanger …..that’s where it’s at! Would like to see Mayo take them on with great urgency and aggression and plenty of great scores right from the off. But that’s our dream always and not even in my dreams does this ever happen. What we ve always been most accustoned to is a scramble to poke out a win from unforeseen and nefarious places and due to unheralded heroisms or chance happenings.If ever we get a game each from all, that will be The Great Day. Clare will be tough as tacks and ideally poised to take a big scalp today but we won’t be found wanting in the bravery and stick at it dept.
I wish everyone a memorable day today as you hit the road and honour the spaces you occupy ….fill the air with your vocals and win lose or draw let’s all cherish our very next breath in safety.
Muigheo Abu and bring home that hard won and well merited turf.

I’d be very surprised if Higgins doesn’t start especially not having 100 mins last week. My preference is for Boland and use Keith as the sweeper. At championship level Dillon is still a better option for playmaker half forward though Boland has done well in most games to date I would be using him as a sub. If Caff dropped I wouldn’t expect he’ll be in the picture going forward. But I’m in the play Caff camp.

Right, Josh – you can’t say I didn’t give you fair warning. I told you last night that it wasn’t the time to be having a pop at the manager but you’ve gone and done it again. That’s you benched for now, I’m afraid.

The abvious thing is that this is a very different game to the Derry game.. at least I hope so anyway, in that there will be no cynical targeting of our younger players like Diarmuid (eye gouging) and that we get to see a good manly game with plenty of football talent on show. Clearly Rochford wanted to protect the young guys last week and only gave Loftus a run out in the last 10-15 when the Derry defence was tiring and wouldn’t actually be able to catch him to rip his head off (you wouldn’t be relying on Deagan for fair protection anyway). So it wouldn’t surprise me at all if that team starts.. plenty of long distance running and stamina in that group. This is a game ideally suited for Fergal and I hope he plays fast direct football into Cillain and Loftus with Diarmuid and Keegan bursting through off the shoulder. Hopefully our recovery plan after 90mins of football went well and that we hit the ground running, get ahead, keep our foot on their neck and don’t let them back into the game. Cm on Mayo shows what you’ve got.

I’d say that Clare’s biggest fear would probably be that we might build up a lead on them, as would have happened to them in the past against the big teams. Lets aim to try and do that today. IF we take our chances, unlike last week, then we should be okay after a tough battle. Roll on the game!

wouldn’t argue with andy being “rested”. not quite as easy to get the legs moving once you get past 30 but he will still play a part in the last quarter i would imagine. whoever plays that is still a serious line up we have.

i fully expect us to get through. we were on a tightrope last week and i cant see us sleepwalking into the last 15 minutes today needing to pull a result out of the fire.

Clare have the better forwards and are a better side than Derry. Squeaky bum time here for mayo. Extra time last week and with Clare coming in after shooting practice v Laois + home advantage, this will not be a handy one. Clare are fit and Collins knows his players and what to do.

Fine margin’s mean an awful lot, they certainly did last year, the year before, the year before, and you guessed it. Mayo played extra time alright last week, but it wasn’t exactly tough going in extra time, should not be an issue… The silver lining is, none of us seem confident that in being able to name the first 15 to take the field,.. Different personel would mean different formation.. It makes Clare’s job more difficult to figure out how to deal with the Mayo challenge today This mean’s, these are the tiny margin’s that can mean so much in the greater scheme of thing’s… I wouldn’t be surprised to see David Drake starting myself or Shane Nally.